TVSquad

With the much-anticipated premiere of Community finally bowing tonight, I figured it was a good time to pull out the interview I did with Joel McHale when I encountered him at the NBC party during the TCA press tour. I didn't talk to McHale about his current NBC show, however; I talked to him about his previous NBC show.

Fans of the British sitcom The IT Crowd may remember that an American pilot was shot and the show was announced for NBC's midseason schedule a couple of years back, with McHale playing Roy and Richard Ayoade bringing his breakout role of Moss over from the original. Only, the pilot never saw the light of day, and a series was never picked up.

I asked McHale about what caused the show to be dropped and if he has any regrets over the show's flame-out. Then, as a person standing in front of the host of The Soup would tend to do, I asked him about what in the reality TV landscape gets him charged up. Interview is after the jump.

Here are the new TV DVDs in stores tomorrow.

The fall not only means that the new seasons and new shows start up, but also it's the time when season sets of TV shows are released to coincide with the new seasons of those shows. So this week we have DVDs for shows like Big Bang Theory, CSI: Miami, Grey's Anatomy, and It's Always Sunny.

• Astro Boy - Vols. 1-5
• The Big Bang Theory - Season 2
• Bonanza - Season 1, Vols 1 and 2
• CSI: Miami - Season 7

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I've been trying to figure out which Swiss Family Robinson is being released this week. It's not the 1960 movie with James MacArthur, and it's not the 1975 series that starred Martin Milner, Helen Hunt, Willie Aames, and Cameron Mitchell. It's at 1976 series from Canada. Not sure if I've ever seen that.

Another blast from the TV past: Parker Lewis Can't Lose!

• Eastbound & Down - Season 1
• Entourage - Season 5
• Eureka - Season 3
• The IT Crowd - Season 2

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I always find it amusing that a lot of standup specials and documentaries are released on DVD just a day or two after they're shown on television. Jim Gaffigan: King Baby premiered this past Sunday, and here it is for sale on DVD. I guess you could have just taped it (sorry, "recorded it"), though I'm sure there are extras on the DVDs you don't get on the TV special.

I'm just happy Volume 5 of Hannah Montana is out!

• California Dreams - Seasons 1 and 2
• The Fugitive - Season 2, Vol. 2
• Goosebumps - Return of the Mummy and The Scarecrow Walks At Midnight
• Hannah Montana - Vol. 5

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of Dancing with the Stars, followed by a new Eli Stone.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then new episodes of The Mentalist and Without A Trace.
• NBC has a new Biggest Loser at 8, followed by a new Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has new episodes of House and Fringe.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8.
• ABC Family has a new Lincoln Heights at 8, followed by a new Greek.
• At 8:40, BBC America has a new Gavin & Stacey.
• At 9, The CW has a new Privileged.
• ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker starting at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 9, then two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
• At 10, FX has a new episode of The Shield.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 10.
• Travel Channel has a Halloween episode of Bizarre Foods at 10.
• Also at 10: IFC has a new episode of The IT Crowd.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Moral Orel.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• At 8, ABC has a new Opportunity Knocks, then a new Dancing with the Stars and the special Half The Size.
• CBS has a new NCIS, followed by new episodes of The Mentalist and Without A Trace.
• NBC has a new Biggest Loser at 8, followed by a new Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has two new episodes of House and Fringe.
• There's a new 90210 on The CW at 8, then a new Privileged.
• TCM has Lassie Come Home at 8, then Meet John Doe.
• Also at 8: ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• At 9, PBS has a new P.O.V.
• Food Network has a new episode of Food Detectives at 9.
• At 10, A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner.
• FX has a new episode of The Shield at 10.
• MTV has the series premiere of Paris Hilton's My New BFF at 10.
• Bravo has a new Rachel Zoe Show at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.
• IFC has a new episode of The IT Crowd.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

After years of reaching US audiences as only a series of forwarded video clips and teh internetz, the original Channel 4 British sitcom The IT Crowd is finally coming to American TV. The IFC Channel has picked up the series and will begin airing it September 29.

I had to make an extra point to specify that this is the UK IT Crowd and not the NBC remake starring original cast member Richard Ayoade and Joel McHale. No, no, that project is still dead. As much as I love Ayoade and McHale, I couldn't help but feel a little relieved that the show didn't take off. I'd rather get my fix from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and The Soup than see them attempt to tip-toe through that dangerous territory of American remakes.

The script for the IT Crowd's third season has just been completed, and folks from the show are looking for some help to dress up the set. Calling all geeks with decent knowledge in pop culture! If you've never seen the show before, it's basically the geekiest show about IT guys in the history of British programming. "Did you turn it off and on?" is a recurring joke, so that should say enough.

Is that a throne Rob Thomas is sitting on? Seems like he's quickly becoming King of TV! The prolific scribe is quite literally sitting in the catbird seat. ABC has just greenlit another Rob Thomas pilot, that's his third -- but who's counting? It follows ABC's resurrection of Cupid and a Beverly Hills, 90210 spinoff for the CW. The latest Rob Thomas opus is an import based on the New Zealand TV series Outrageous Fortune.

Outrageous Fortune is a one-hour dramedy is about a family of criminals. When the father is jailed for four years, the matriarch declares that it's time for the family to go straight. Thomas has written the pilot and will act as executive producer, along with John Barnett, Michael Larkin, Michael Goldstein, Bruce Cervi and John Lansing.

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

It would appear that the adaptation of UK sit-com The IT Crowd might need more than Roy's famous reboot fix. According to reports, NBC is set to pull the plug on the midseason comedy. If you haven't been playing along at home, the show is to be a joint production between Universal Media Studios and Freemantle Media. It's an ensemble comedy, set in an IT department, starring Joel McHale (The Soup) and Rocky Carroll (Invasion).

I think I'm the last Squadder to put out one of these lists, and there's a good reason for that. After the crush of the season finales and upfronts in May, I was happy to not be a regular watcher of anything in particular, except for Yankee games, so there seemed to be nothing for me to write about.

But when I really thought about it, that's not even close to being true. Despite the fact that it's summer, there's more than enough quality programming that I'm sure I'll get sucked into some weekly habits at some point. So, after the jump, here's what I plan on watching:

Joe Wiseman and Joe Port the two writers behind the upcoming NBC pilot The IT Crowd (based on the British series of the same name) have signed a deal with NBC Universal that will allow them to develop other projects for the network. The two men have previously written for series including Son of the Beach and Just Shoot Me.

David Guarascio and Moses Port (Joe's brother) will serve as executive producers on The IT Crowd. The original British series centers on three IT workers who are generally despised by the rest of the workers at Reynholm Industries in London and yet are crucial to keeping the company running smoothly. The Channel 4 series was quite a success across the pond, so naturally NBC wants to try and duplicate that success here.

Azureus has renamed its Zudeo BitTorrent client Vuze. Along with the name change comes a few new features like an improved search engine and a new navigation system. And more importantly, there's new high definition content from networks including Showtime and the BBC. Limited content was already available form A&E Networks, G4 TV, National Geographic, and Starz Media.

While most users probably think of BitTorrent clients as software for downloading TV shows and movies illegally, Vuze is all about partnering with networks and independent video producers to sell content.

And while there's not much premium content available right now, Azureus has snagged the right to distribute some interesting programming, including Showtime's Weeds, Dexter, and The L Word. Vuze will also distribute the BBC series Sorted, which is otherwise unavailable in the United States. This should come as good news to anyone hoping that other BBC content such as Life on Mars, or the original version of The IT Crowd might one day be distributed via Vuze or BBC's own online video service.

[via Ars Technica]

Last year, after multiple recommendations from my English friends, I got around to watching a few episodes of The IT Crowd. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to all the wild hype generated by my buddies, but something did stick in my mind... The crazy-haired, nasal Moss character, played by Richard Ayoade. There was something wonderfully weird about him and, since I was so intrigued by his strange voice, I decided to look him up. Well, as it turns out, his usual voice is really that weird and nasal, which just made him a million times more better in my mind. In fact, Ayoade's the only cast member who has been carried over from the original version of The IT Crowd to the American adaptation, reprising his role as Moss.

Does anyone really need another cop drama with procedural elements? NBC seems to think so. Personally, I would be all for a moratorium on all new dramas that feature cops, doctors, or lawyers. But I suppose if you they are going to create yet another of these shows, hiring David Shore, the creator of House, and adding Famke Janssen as the lead is a good place to start. Adam mentioned the show back in October. It still doesn't have an official title, but the addition of Janssen is a good sign that things are moving along. Or a bad sign, if you've had your fill of cops.

In other casting news at the peacock network, Rocky Carroll (Chicago Hope) has signed on to play the corporate boss in the pilot of The IT Crowd. A remake of a UK comedy, the show also features Joel McHale, Richard Ayoade, and Jessica St. Clair as the hapless IT team at a major corporation. The original was very funny, but you can flip a coin on how this is going to turn out. It's a tricky bit of business updating these shows for the American audience. Having Ayoade reprise his role as Moss can't hurt though.